Legends of Mana
by Dracorum
Summary: Sequel to Journal of a Farmer. Another ordinary day turned extraordinary when Vitus found a girl sleeping at the foot of Trent. Who was she and what was she doing there? The answers to these questions would give him the keys to his past, present...and the fate of Fa'Diel. Hero/heroine
1. Falling through the Sky

Disclaimer: Legend of Mana belongs to Square Enix and whoever decided they should buy this lovely franchise and turn it popular again. PLEASE.

* * *

**Falling through the Sky**

Up close, the Mana Tree blocked the sky. Its tower-like trunk constantly creaked and moaned as if it was breathing. The branches swayed, tossed, and danced restlessly, in strong winds or still air. Through rains and fires and quakes, the Tree stood as companion, protector, and eternal giver.

But not today. The Mana Tree stood motionless. Those who might have spied it from a spatial distortion would see only its dead silence.

The Mana Goddess waited in fear and hope, in madness and shattered clarity, for her destroyer.

Her Knight of Mana.

/

_He watched the ashes fall from the blue sky. All around him, the bare bones of the past laid exposed to the indifferent sun. Survivors shuffled dejectedly in the ruins, looking for anything that can be salvaged. They were afraid to find another reminder of a happier time, yet unable to keep from hoping for just one last glimpse. A man moved to help one of the women, lifted heavier pieces of debris aside and dug below at the scorched ground with bare hands until every nail bled._

_He watched this scene from the shadows. In his dreams he was always somewhere he couldn't have been. Was this because someone wanted him to see? Or were his dreams someone else's memories?_

Vitus woke suddenly and looked at the window to check the amount of sunlight. Still not quite dawn, but Lisa would be up and about her business in the kitchen soon. The sprite sighed, thumped back onto his pillow, before inhaling sharply and sprung right out of the warm covers, jumped into his clothes, and downstairs to stoke the fire.

The little elf girl stumbled down the attic ladder a few minutes after he got a nice cheery crackle going in the hearth. She gave him a sleepy smile, ducked into kitchen, and emerged with the kettle and a rack of bread. As Vit took care of the toasting, Lisa measured out the tea leaves, some kind of heart mint blend, put the kettle on the hook, and clattered up the ladder again to wake her twin.

A host of thudding, stomping, and marginal yelling later, Bud was perched pouting on his usual chair, morosely staring out at the late winter scenery, while Lisa busied herself setting the table.

Breakfast was always eaten in silence during winter, the hour being too dark and the weather too depressing to inspired much liveliness. Still, they managed to have a few quiet words after the meal about the day's chores before Vit headed out to check on the frosted, hibernating Trent. Bud accompanied his master for part of the way and continued on to the workshops, head already spinning out the calculations and dimensions of his latest harp project. He would probably stop by the corral before he got started though, evidenced by the bulky treat he was 'hiding' under his coat.

The day proceeded as the one before, and Vit said as much in his little journal. Still, as he banked the fire that night and turned away to look out into the dark, why did it seem like he was waiting for something to happen?

He shook his head and attributed the feeling to strange dreams and cold weather, then went up to bed.

/

_She kept falling, tumbling, spinning through the darkness. She should have fainted or something, but her traitorous mind clung to its steadiness, ticking away the spinning nebulas and stars, galaxies and comets, like it was jotting the numbers down an account book._

_She started to wish she would die after she passed one thousand._

/

The next morning the sun shone bright and lively from behind wispy clouds, and Vit could finally feel shy spring in the air. The twins took a break from their normal routine and strolled with him down to Domina to visit with Teapo and Duelle. He stuck around to chat with Jennifer about the spring produce orders before he made his usual way across to the pub.

Rachel mouthed hello to him and motioned for him to take a seat at the bar, a much-improved welcome considering how she was when she first started working there. He was passed his usual winter fare, the last of the applesocks cider, and left alone.

Even the bartender caught wind of his weird mood, Vit sighed inwardly. Still, he finished his drink cheerfully enough and went outside to collect his apprentices from the park.

The trek home was bordering on jolly, a first in a long time, until they reached the path in front of the homestead.

"Sproutling!?" All three shouted at the same time.

The small creature was almost brown from the cold dry air. Vit hurriedly scooped it up and sprinted for the house, the twins close behind.

Thank Goddess, the fire didn't die out. The water in the kettle was still warm too. Vit grabbed up a pail from the kitchen and went to work.

Soon the air was as sweltering and moist as the Jungle on a summer day, and the Sproutling was reviving enough to drink the melted snow coursing down its face.

Vit leaned back on the bench and mopped his face, "Why aren't you with the rest of your fellows...wherever you were? How did you even get here?"

The Sproutling just continued to drink and basked in the warm air.

"That scared me, I thought it was going to die." Lisa leaned her arms on the table, "Can Sproutlings be considered...alive though?"

"Sure it's alive, just look at it! Gulping down moisture like a lost man that just found an oasis." Bud slumped next to his sister and eyed the Sproutling, "But maybe we can dissect it to make sure…"

The creature looked up, alarmed, and tried to jump out of the bucket.

"Whoa, sorry, he was just joking, _right?_" Vit directed the last syllable behind him and got a drawling 'yeeeees' in reply, "I won't let anything happen to you. Just...tell me what you came for, okay?"

The Sproutling looked at the twins, then at Vitus, then nodded at everyone in general as if to acknowledged their presence, "I'm waiting."

"For who?" they moved closer, intrigued.

But the Sproutling shook its head and leaned back into the bucket. And that was that for the rest of the winter.

/

_She didn't know who she was anymore, or the circumstances of how she came to be falling through the whole of creation. There was only darkness around her and pinpoints of light streaking by so fast, they seemed to be suspended in lines of fire. Was she still alive? Is this the afterlife? Is death so endless?_

_She just wanted to sleep. But already she had forgotten what 'sleep' means._

/

"It's SPRING!" Bud raced out of the door and to the corral as soon as he was finished gulping down breakfast.

"Careful and don't let Mandy scorch the fence!" Vit called after him. With no reply forthcoming, he just smiled lopsidedly and continued on his way to the orchard. It was the outer Trent's turn to be checked on, and his feet took the familiar paths without him needing to think on it.

Pale new blooms decorated the grass and the water rushed noisily beside him on its way from the mountains to the sea. The bad dreams and uneasiness of some weeks ago seemed already far behind him.

Trent greeted him sleepily, still not fully awake from the winter sleep. Vit set down his tools and began to peel back the covers he had wrapped around the massive trunk, careful to rolled up the mat for storage.

He was almost done. A trumming started down beneath his feet and he realized that Trent was surprised, "What is it-" he started to ask, before he saw the foot.

Vitus dropped everything he was holding and ducked down below Trent's tangled roots. "Wha-what-what's-who's-" he trailed off, bewildered by the sight.

A girl slept peacefully, arms curled almost protectively on one of the roots. She was definitely alive and breathing.

He blew out his breath in relief, but sucked in another immediately. Aside from a pale shift, she was naked.

Vitus clapped his hands over his eyes and retreated out of the root shelter, "Calm Vitus. Seriously, it's not like she's awake-"

"Who?"

"Wah!" he jumped three feet and spun around to see Lisa, an oversized picnic basket in her arms, tilted her head at him in question.

"Lisa! Don't scare me like that! What is it today, just one thing after another- hey!" Bud, who had moved up unnoticed, was ducking down behind him in curiosity, "Bud! Get out here this instant!" Vit darted out a hand and snagged the boy's collar before dragging him out like an unruly howler.

Bud's eyes were huge saucers in a red face, "Master, I-I didn't know you prefer blonds-"

"SHUT IT! This isn't what it looks like!" Vit paused, took a deeper breath, swung Bud up to hang from a nearby root, took off his outer coat and handed it to Lisa, "Okay. Lisa, please go in there, cover her up, and try to wake her if you can. Seriously, I don't know who she is or what's going on, but we can find out after she's decent."

Lisa set down the basket and looked at her master doubtfully.

"I _really_ don't know her!" Vitus massaged his temples. What kind of person do they think he is!

The girl had the temerity to shrug and shook her head! But at least she did as he had asked.

"She's fine now." Lisa poked out her head a few minutes later, and both boys joined her in the small hollow.

The girl was still sleeping peacefully, despite all the ruckus they were making.

"Um, so what's next?" Bud asked no one in particular as they stared.

"She seems kind of...exhausted." Lisa said thoughtfully, "Look how pale she is. And I tried and shook her shoulders, no response. Unless you want me to hold her nose?" she asked Vit.

"No, please don't use Bud's waking tactic on a perfect stranger, Lisa. You'll give her nightmares." He considered carrying her back to the house, but she looked so comfortable on the grass…

"What's in the basket?" Vit switched his attention to his apprentices instead.

"What? Oh, just some lunch. I thought we could have a picnic after we were done with Trent…"Lisa answered confusedly.

"I just followed the smell of food." Bud answered a nonexistent question.

"...Okay. So let's have some early lunch then. We'll just have to wait for her to wake up on her own." Vit decided.

They got out to prepare the picnic blanket and spreading the feast on the cloth. Some sandwiches, some stew made from the last of the jerky, and hot drinks in mugs later, there was a sound of shuffling from inside the hollow.

A sleepy head peered out and licked her lips, "Can I have some too?"

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A/N: I finally got the last piece of the plot puzzle! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Here's to many more to come.


	2. A Home for the Weary

**A Home for the Weary**

Vit studied his unexpected guest as she took tiny bites of her fourth sandwich. Unhurt and of sound mind was his verdict, just extremely weakened for some reason.

"So," he started as she was licking the crumbs from her fingers, "Are you up to answering some questions?"

She nodded calmly and looked straight at him.

Grey - no, blue - eyes. Their intensity was distracting.

Vit cleared his throat, "Who are you?"

The girl blinked, took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "I was hoping _you_ could tell me the answer to that."

It was his turn to blink, "What?"

She stared at him, for what seemed ages, then pronounced clearly, "I don't remember anything about my past. And it seems the cause of it was not you, as I think you are honestly confused by my situation as well. I assure you that I mean no harm-"

"Wait, wait." Vit held up a hand to stem the words, "I can tell you're being honest about all this, but I think we're skipping some important steps here. Um," he glanced at his stupefied apprentices, shook his head at their expressions, and declared, "Let's start over."

He pointed at himself, "My name is Vitus, but you can call me Vit. These two are my apprentices: Bud," the boy nodded vigorously, "and Lisa." who nodded with an uncertain smile.

Vit pointed up to Trent, "We're living in a house nearby Trent here, who's kind enough to let me tend him and provide us with produce." The tree hummed deeply and shook some stray leaves onto the group.

"I asked him earlier, and he doesn't know how you came to be sleeping under his roots, just that you showed up early this morning. That's how I found you when I came along to check on him..." Vitus trailed off.

The girl was scrunching her brows and trying to remember, but it didn't seem like any more memory was surfacing.

"Look, it's alright. It's not my first time dealing with this kind of situation. Pearl was simply hopeless that time - or still is actually - anyway, you don't know who that is, so-" and now she's looking at him like he's the one with problems, "What I am _trying_ to say is, don't worry about stuff right now. I'm sure your memory will be back eventually."

The girl still looked troubled and he couldn't blame her. He was hardly persuasive if he could botched a simple introduction. Speaking of introductions,

"You don't remember your name? Or any name at all?"

She shook her head and looked apologetic, "I'm sorry, other than knowing the bare minimum of finding food and shelter, I am drawing dark blanks everywhere else. But I understand that it must be hard to find a nameless stranger on your property at least."

"That's...specific isn't it?" Vit scratched his head, "Well, we have to call you something though…how about Tinu?" A complete rip-off of his latest book obsession, but why not?

The girl - Tinu - nodded again. "It has a nice sound. Thank you, Vit."

He smiled at her, he hoped reassuringly, "You are welcome. So. Next, do you have enough strength to walk?"

She inclined her head, "What is this…'walk'?"

"What!?" the trio master and apprentices shouted in unison.

"I was joking." Tinu smirked.

"Oh. You...have a very strange sense of humor."

"Is it? Perhaps I have forgotten how I used to tell normal jokes…"

"Oh, no, it's fine- Wait a minute, you're still doing it!" Vit backpedaled as he was about to fall into another pity party.

Tinu smiled wider, "Do what?"

"Ah, Goddess, never mind." Vit threw up his hands. Then he started to laugh.

The twins stared at the two adults chuckling together and turned toward each other.

"Adults are weird." Bud said.

"Yup. Let's clean up." Lisa agreed, took a corner of the blanket they were sitting on and shook it till everybody got up to help her fold it away.

/

"We're lucky it's market day tomorrow." Vit mused as they were on their way toward the homestead.

"Why?" Lisa asked as she swung the basket and kept one eye on Bud rushing along ahead of them swinging a...pan.

'Curious.' Tinu thought.

"If she's there, I can ask Meimei about Tinu's situation." Vit answered his apprentice.

"You believe her fortunes? They're told from _fruits_!" Bud seemed to have overheard them and shouted backwards over his shoulder.

"And you tried to take over the world with pumpkins!" Vit shouted back.

The boy turned red and took off running, much to Tinu's confusion. Lisa sped up to catch up to her brother, yelling all the while for him to slow down.

She turned to Vit, "Pumpkins?"

"I'd tell you the story, but I don't want those two to kill me in my sleep." he grinned in reply, before pointing forward along the pathway.

"Look, that's our house."

It took Tinu a few tries to spot the cozy little home built snuggly against the large tree before her. The door was open and sounds of the twins shouting incomprehensibly wafted out, punctuated by wet bangs and splashing booms.

"It looks lovely..." She listened to the din coming from inside and asked nervously, "What are they doing?"

"Cleaning up. Don't worry, it would take more than a few hard throws to break things in the place. I made sure of it." He reassured her as Tinu clasped her hands in worry.

A little green-leafed creature pattered up to them as soon as they reached the front gate.

"Sproutling?"

Tinu looked to Vit and back at the 'Sproutling', now jumping up and down in front of her. "Do you...know me?"

"You're here! You're here!" it squeaked.

Vit bent down to catch the Sproutling as it almost fell over in its enthusiastic greeting, "So _she's_ who you were waiting for? Why am I not surprised-"

The Sproutling beamed at Tinu, "Hello, Knight of Mana."

"Knight?" Tinu tilted her head perplexedly. She turned to Vit to ask whether he knew the meaning of the title, but paused as she registered his facial expression.

Shock...and dismay?

The Sproutling bent its head back and smiled at Vit next, "You too."

A few seconds passed, in which the trio stood staring at each other, before Vit shouted with a voice that silenced even the rowdiness of the twins for the third time today, "WHAT!?"

Bud and Lisa tumbled out of the house in alarm, "What's the matter? Master? Tinu?" Lisa stammered.

"Did the Sproutling dropped some fertilizer on the front path again?" Bud looked around for signs of bright green muck.

Shocked at the outburst, Tinu said nothing as she continued to stare at Vit, who swung the Sproutling outside the front gate and clicked the door shut in one motion. He whispered to her, "I'll explain later."

"Sorry guys, false alarm. It was just a patch of real mud." Vit addressed the twins in a normal voice.

"Aw, too bad. Mandy was enjoying those special mud baths…" Bud muttered before he sprinted off toward the right without warning.

"Hey, we're not finished cleaning yet! Get back here!" Lisa yelled after him in vain.

"Leave him, Lisa, I'll take over the dish duty. Why don't you show Tinu around?"

Lisa turned back, mollified, "Okay. Here, this way."

"I hoped you two haven't broken anything else...I'm running out of mugs." Vit muttered on his way inside.

"Nooooo, we haven't."

"I see." Vit sighed, "Tinu, I'll give you my bedroom for now. I'll make a place in the study."

"Vit, you can't just give me-" Tinu recovered her wits enough to start to protest, but her knees suddenly buckled down and she landed just inside the doorway.

Vit rushed up just in time to prevent her from falling face first onto the dusty wooden planking.

"...Will she be really alright?" Lisa asked as Vit hoisted the girl up. She was light. Too light.

"She must still be tired. It was a pretty long walk, and we don't know what she's been through."

"It's unnatural for her to be this tired all the time! I can't even _see_ what's wrong with her! I'm going to the study. Where do you keep your book of maladies?"

"Third shelf from the left, second section from the bottom. Thanks, Lisa." Vit replied as he made his way to the stairs and put his foot carefully on the first step.

He reached his bedroom with no further incident. 'She's still so pale even after the food and exercise.' Vit thought as he tucked her in and gestured for Lil'Cactus to be quiet.

In fact, her presence seemed even more faded than before she had eaten.

"Bed rest. That's the best remedy I can think of right now." Vit whispered to the little houseplant, "Please look after her."

Lil'Cactus saluted and dragged his pot closer.

Vit smiled at its serious expression, "I'm counting on you."

/

_She woke suddenly in darkness. The air pressed close and stifled her lungs. Her legs and arms were tangled in sheets soaked with sweat. She was about to panic when someone pulled back the curtains._

_"Finally awake, -?" A gentle reprimand, filled with smiles._

_She sat up, rubbed her eyes. It was only a scary dream. She yawned, "It's not even bright out, Mom."_

_"-! Time for practice! Hurry up," a faint yell from beyond her bedroom door._

_"Coming Dad!" she yelled back, unenthusiastically._

_Her mother laughed at her bed hair and brushed it out for her. She dressed lightly in a tunic and trousers before grabbing her sp-_

"Hey, finally awake Tinu?" Another voice asked.

"What?" She mumbled before she opened her eyes fully. Vit's face peered at her from the side of the bed.

Tinu tried to rise up on an elbow but sunk instead into the mattress. Vit helped to pile pillows behind her.

"I was dreaming-" Already the details are faded, disappearing into the smog that clouded her mind. For some reason, her heart ached with the lost.

"I...forgot about what." She answered Vit's unvoiced question when he looked at her.

His expression fell for just a moment before brightening up, "I brought breakfast! You must be hungry."

A growl had sounded before he finished his first sentence. She shook her head in embarrassment, "How long was I asleep? And I took your bed anyway it seems."

"It's alright." Vit smiled as he carried a small side table over. "You've been asleep half a day or so. It's afternoon now."

"That long?" she winced and accidentally crumpled the toast. "Wasn't it market day today? Did I miss it?"

"Ah, well. Don't worry about it. There's still the one next week." Vit rubbed the hair underneath his red cap.

It was nice and comfortable looking. Red and green suits him, Tinu thought absently.

"Actually, Tinu, I think you should just concentrate on getting better than getting your memories back at the moment. I mean, I can't tell if you're well or sick. Yesterday you were fine and healthy one minute, then the next you fainted…"

"I'm sorry." she lowered her head.

Vit stared for a moment before he hastily waved his hands, "No, don't be sorry! I didn't mean to make it sound like I blamed you," he apologized.

"I know," Tinu smiled sadly, "I could tell. I'm sorry anyway." and bowed deeply for the waist.

He frowned and touched her shoulders to straighten her, "Tinu. I'll be direct with you. I'm not helping people because I'm a good person. I like helping people because I believe I can someday be repaid, that the world works like that. So, while I thank you for your consideration, there's really no need for all this ceremony."

She looked at his serious expression with surprise. Tinu felt she should have been at least annoyed with his dismissal of her sentiments and his confession of expecting a return. But she felt nothing of the sort. She felt the opposite.

So she just nodded, "I understand."

Vit grinned suddenly, as if to dispel the heavy atmosphere, "I like being thanked though. Especially by beautiful women."

Tinu snorted, "I see!" then she said, "Thank you."

"So you admit that you are beautiful?" Vit teased.

"Am I not?" she retorted with a sweet smile.

"Uh," Vit blushed, "Um."

"She's got you there master," Lisa bounced up the last step with a pile of clothes in her arms.

Vit coughed, "Ahem. I still have some work to do, so I'll see you later Tinu." and disappeared unnaturally fast down the stairway.

"Coward." Lisa walked up, dumped the clothes onto the bed, and jumped onto Vit's previous perch. "How are you?" she asked lightly.

Tinu nodded at the empty tray before her, "I'm good now after I've eaten. Did you make it?"

"Yup. Master and me take turns. Bud can't cook anything but trouble." Lisa pronounced.

She pulled the colorful clothes closer to them after she put the tray back on the side table, "I got you some things from the market today. I changed you last night." Lisa preempt Tinu's concern when she saw her looked down in realization.

"Oh. Thank you," Tinu replied a bit embarrassedly, "But wasn't it awkward to do by yourself?"

"Welllll," Lisa looked furtively down the stairs, then leaned in closer to whisper, "Master said not the to tell, but he helped too. He was blindfolded though."

"I...see." Tinu blushed a little. "I suppose that's alright then."

"I hope you like it here." Lisa said as she kicked her legs and watched Tinu inspect the selection. "Master's really nice, no matter what he said."

"You heard, huh," Tinu muffled as she pulled on one of the dark pink dresses. "I think you're all nice."

She turned and put her bare feet on the floor gingerly.

"Are you feeling well enough to walk?" Lisa looked at her suspiciously, as if she might break down at any moment.

"I'll be fine." Tinu reassured Lisa, and herself. "Let's go on that tour I was promised."

"If you say so," Lisa replied with a frown, but took Tinu's hand eagerly and led her to the stairwell.

"Oh!" Lisa exclaimed as they were making slow progress down the stairs.

"What's the matter?" Tinu asked the girl in front of her, alarmed.

Lisa turned back and grimaced, "I forgot to buy you shoes!"


	3. Wooden Shoes and a Story

**Wooden Shoes and a Story**

'There's a stick in the White Forest.'

Vit banged the hammer violently on the anvil and narrowly missed the unshaped hoe blade he was making for one of the neighboring farmers. He sighed and put the piece of metal into the water bucket. Distracting thoughts makes shoddy work, as Watts would say. Maybe it's time to call it a day and go back inside the house.

Still, that fortune he had received from Meimei today has got to be the most obvious statement ever made in history.

Of course there are sticks in forests!

"Master! Are you in here?" He heard Lisa's call from the entrance of the workshops.

"In the smithy!" Vit answered loudly.

"Ah, master, I've got a favor to ask." Lisa told him as she walked in. Tinu peered into the dim space after the little apprentice a moment later.

"What's the matter?" Vit asked Lisa even as he watched Tinu made her way carefully down the stairs. His houseguest seemed to be fine after she had eaten, but that's what he also thought yesterday before she suddenly conked out.

"You see," Lisa hedged, "I forgot to buy her some shoes at the market..."

"Uh huh," Vit raised his brows, "And you want me to make her some? Sure."

"I was telling Lisa I like going barefoot though," Tinu stated as she started to browse one of the shelves holding the assorted metals and materials he had collected over the years.

"I do too, except it is pretty dangerous to do that if we're ever going to take you to town," Vit smiled and took off the leather apron he was wearing to protect his clothes from catching fire, "It won't take long."

Tinu looked down on her feet, "It's nice and spring-y to walk on green grass…" she said absentmindedly.

"Right?" Vit agreed as he collected some wood and a carver from another shelf by the wall, "Lisa, shouldn't you be doing something in the house? Somewhere in the kitchen, maybe?"

Lisa pouted, "But I was going to take Tinu on a tour of Domina next!"

"And dinner time is soon, as you well know. I don't want you guys to be out after dark just yet."

Lisa sighed, "Okay….I'll see you two back home." and trudged tragically back upstairs.

Vit smiled wryly at the dejected back, "I'll treat you all to some sweets in town tomorrow if dinner is good."

"You promise?" Lisa snapped her head back so fast, he was afraid she was going to sprain something.

"I do solemnly swear."

She jumped exactly three feet in the air and rushed out, presumably towards the corral to tell Bud the news.

Tinu giggled, "You're a softy."

He made a face at her, "Don't go telling them that! I'll be ruined before you could say 'Creeping Cactus'."

"Your secret's safe with me," Tinu grinned wider.

He snorted, "I don't even know you that well and I'm already certain I can't trust that expression in your eyes."

Vit piled the things he had collected whilst they bantered into his arms and led the way out.

"Let's sit outside. It's nice and cool on the roof at this time of day."

They went out the squat main entrance and Tinu climbed up the small ladder at the side that Vit indicated. The top of the cavern where the workshops were located was peppered with stumps of old trees and had a carpet of bouncy grass. She helped catch the stuff Vit tossed up and pulled him up at the end.

It took awhile for Tinu to settled on a spot, but she finally found a nook that was just right as Vit started to chip away at one of the woodblocks.

The view was amazing. They were on the highest point in the homestead, save for the tree that the house had been built against, and the endless farmlands and orchards fell away on all sides in all shades of green. Spring flowers shook petals that floated on the dusk air, dotting the purple sky with spots of bright colors. Sounds of the distant farm animals and songs of birds returning to roost lulled her almost to sleep.

She burrowed further onto the soft moss and yawned.

"You alright?" Vit asked as his hands turned the wood into recognizable clog shapes, similar to the pair he was wearing.

"Yes," Tinu mumbled, "I'm just a little drowsy…It feels like forever since I've been able to relax like this."

Vit didn't reply as he began to sand the inside of a clog. The rhythmic sound blend with the twilight music and drifted around her.

The Sproutling was settling into a corner of the front lawn, folding up his leaves tightly together to form a big, round bud. Probably preparing for night.

"Vit, what's a 'Knight of Mana'?" Tinu asked.

Silence.

She was starting to feel afraid of the answer when Vit finally said, as if to himself, "Did you know that Domina is actually a very old village? It's been here for hundreds of years, always quiet, always peaceful, almost as if suspended in time."

Tinu looked at Vit's profile in the rapidly darkening light. She felt her heart beat faster and faster. Was it...fear? Or anticipation? Some instinct told her that what Vit was about to say, he had never said to anyone before.

Vit started sanding the other pair as he continued, "Domina was founded by a group of refugees who fled here from the last Holy War, some 900 years ago. All kinds of people - soldiers, mages, their families - came here to escape the chaos and destruction of the burning of the Mana Tree. They melted their weapons, made pyres of their grimoires, swore to live together in harmony, and never looked back. Everything of their past lives were buried so deeply, the only traces left of those times are vague sayings and fireside tales."

He paused to watch the last of the sunset colored the sky a bright red-gold, "Let's head back inside. The workshop's better lit for detail work."

Just inside the entrance was a bench pushed up against the wall. Both of them settled there and Tinu watched Vit carved tiny flourishes and flowers onto the clogs' smooth surface. She didn't know, or remember, anything about carving, but she could tell he was extremely skilled.

"So, to get to the point: Domina is like an undiscovered gold mine for historians. They come in twos or threes, or whole groups, even now, to find the one person who can give them the hints they need to unlock that long missing chunk of the past.

My father also moved the three of us here for that reason. I was still a baby at the time, so I didn't have ties to our old place, but my mother used to talk about it. The glittering city and all its delights…" Vit paused, and continued as if he didn't.

"I grew up in and around Domina. Normal childhood, normal friends. Except my father was never around long enough or often enough, too caught up in chasing after that elusive trail of history. My mother taught me everything I know now."

Vit glanced at Tinu's expression, "Don't look like that. It's not that I hate my father. I don't feel that strongly about him. You could say I'm used to it...they've both been gone for a long time now."

The clogs were finish after a final sanding. He put the pair down on the ground and indicated for her to try them on, "I measured your size by eye, so I hope it's not too big."

Tinu slipped on the clogs and stood, twisted this way and that to look down on her heels, "It is a tad big...but Lisa promised to fix me some stockings so I think it will fit fine. Thank you so much."

"Anything for a lady," Vit smiled a little too brightly.

"Vit…" she hesitated, "I'm sorry. About your parents."

He looked down and shook his head a little, "It's been a long time, like I said. Well, eight years." he corrected, "A lot happened in the past months that made everything seemed hundreds of years gone."

Tinu sat down next to him again, a bit closer this time, and waited.

Eventually, Vit took up the thread to the story again, "My mother was the one who told me about my father's research after he went missing sometime after we moved here. About how he came to find the missing Mana village that was burned down along with the Tree, about evidences of their lores and beliefs in the Goddess, of a 'sanctuary', and the priests and knights that supposedly lived there."

"Priests and knights…" Tinu repeated, brows knitted.

"Yes. I think they're the same as the 'Knight of Mana' the Sproutling mentioned."

"So, supposedly we are the descendants of these long missing people of the Mana village?" Tinu wondered.

Vit shook his head, "I...don't know. If I am - if we are - really Knights...why didn't my mother never mentioned that? It would have explained everything about why my father was so obsessed…But I don't think the Sproutling lied either. Plants aren't capable of human deception."

They fell into contemplative silence.

Vit leaned back with a sigh. It was strange how everything about his past just came pouring out of him. What the Sproutling had said yesterday made his old insecurities and childhood burdens all rushed back. All morning he had mustered every remaining mental fortitude he had to stem the flow, to prevent a break down.

But Tinu had looked at him with those clear eyes, as if she could accept anything and everything he was going to tell her, and he was unable to resist unweighing the burden of his own memories.

Perhaps because she was as yet unable to recall any past of her own, that made him trust her so completely. Or perhaps it was just the way she was, the essence of her personality, that made her listened to long-winded stories with complete attention. He didn't know. Time could only tell.

So he got up and held out his hand for her to take. They headed back to the house with a warm, welcome glow in the fireplace, to a raucous table loaded with good food, then separated to different corners for the night: Tinu, who lost once again to the strength of Vit's insistence, climbed bonelessly into the bedcovers and drifted right away into another memory. The twins dragged their tired feet up the attic stairs and, for once, fell right away into deep slumber. Vit banked the fire, returned to his pallet in the study, before remembering something he had forgotten and headed back outside.

The stars lit the cool spring night time with sharp points of light. Vit carefully scooped up the Sproutling in his bud, carried it into the house, settled it on a pot of warm soil in the corner between the kitchen and the hearth, and finally turned to his own bed.

Soon all was still in the homestead.

The poet of cosmic truth stood silently on watch on one of the vast branches of the tree above the little house. No one knew his thoughts as the night turned, as the moon waxed to full...

As the Mana Goddess fell deeper into her madness.


End file.
